How to read low level mouse click position in linux .

Question

I am using this code to read mouse events from the dev/input/event* in linux .

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#include <linux/input.h>
#include <fcntl.h>

#define MOUSEFILE "/dev/input/event4"

int main()
{
    int fd;
    struct input_event ie;

    if((fd = open(MOUSEFILE, O_RDONLY)) == -1) {
        perror("opening device");
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    while(read(fd, &ie, sizeof(struct input_event))) {
        printf("time %ld.%06ld\ttype %d\tcode %d\tvalue %d\n",
               ie.time.tv_sec, ie.time.tv_usec, ie.type, ie.code, ie.value);

}
    return 0;
}

It gives me the results in the format :

time 1342517261.840285 type 2 code 0 value -1

'time' is the timestamp, it returns the time at which the event happened.

'code' is event code, for example REL_X or KEY_BACKSPACE, complete list is in include/linux/input.h.

'value' is the value the event carries. Either a relative change for EV_REL, absolute new value for EV_ABS (joysticks ...), or 0 for EV_KEY for release, 1 for keypress and 2 for autorepeat.

when i click , i get the event but i don't get the position of the mouse on the screen , what is the way to get the position of the mouse on screen .

---

Edit 1:So as it turns out that i have to use the relative co-ordinates to get the mouse co-ordinates .I believe this is a common requirement so there might be libraries/pre-existing code that you can use to get the co-ordinates. Any info on this topic will be very useful .

---

Edit2 : SOLUTION

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#include <linux/input.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <X11/Xlib.h>

#define MOUSEFILE "/dev/input/event4"

int main()
{
  int fd;
  struct input_event ie;
  Display *dpy;
  Window root, child;
  int rootX, rootY, winX, winY;
  unsigned int mask;

  dpy = XOpenDisplay(NULL);
  XQueryPointer(dpy,DefaultRootWindow(dpy),&root,&child,
              &rootX,&rootY,&winX,&winY,&mask);

  if((fd = open(MOUSEFILE, O_RDONLY)) == -1) {
    perror("opening device");
    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
  }

  while(read(fd, &ie, sizeof(struct input_event))) {
    if (ie.type == 2) {
      if (ie.code == 0) {
          XQueryPointer(dpy,DefaultRootWindow(dpy),&root,&child,
                        &rootX,&rootY,&winX,&winY,&mask);
          //rootX += ie.value;
          }
      else if (ie.code == 1) {
          XQueryPointer(dpy,DefaultRootWindow(dpy),&root,&child,
                        &rootX,&rootY,&winX,&winY,&mask);
         // rootY += ie.value;
          }
      printf("time%ld.%06ld\tx %d\ty %d\n",
         ie.time.tv_sec, ie.time.tv_usec, rootX, rootY);
    } else
      printf("time %ld.%06ld\ttype %d\tcode %d\tvalue %d\n",
          ie.time.tv_sec, ie.time.tv_usec, ie.type, ie.code, ie.value);
  }
  return 0;
}

XQueryPointer seems more convenient solution . Thanks , @perreal for the guidance .

Answer 1

You can get the initial position from X11, and use relative coordinates to track the pointer:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#include <linux/input.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <X11/Xlib.h>

#define MOUSEFILE "/dev/input/event6"

int main()
{
  int fd;
  struct input_event ie;
  Display *dpy;
  Window root, child;
  int rootX, rootY, winX, winY;
  unsigned int mask;

  dpy = XOpenDisplay(NULL);
  XQueryPointer(dpy,DefaultRootWindow(dpy),&root,&child,
              &rootX,&rootY,&winX,&winY,&mask); 

  if((fd = open(MOUSEFILE, O_RDONLY)) == -1) {
    perror("opening device");
    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
  }

  while(read(fd, &ie, sizeof(struct input_event))) {
    if (ie.type == 2) {
      if (ie.code == 0) { rootX += ie.value; }
      else if (ie.code == 1) { rootY += ie.value; }
      printf("time%ld.%06ld\tx %d\ty %d\n", 
         ie.time.tv_sec, ie.time.tv_usec, rootX, rootY);
    } else if (ie.type == 1) {
      if (ie.code == 272 ) { 
        printf("Mouse button ");
        if (ie.value == 0)  
          printf("released!!\n");
        if (ie.value == 1)  
          printf("pressed!!\n");
    } else {
        printf("time %ld.%06ld\ttype %d\tcode %d\tvalue %d\n",
            ie.time.tv_sec, ie.time.tv_usec, ie.type, ie.code, ie.value);
    }
  }
  return 0;
}

Answer 2

A mouse only sends relative movement, not absolute position. You have to keep track of it yourself, and when you receive a mouse-button event you have to check your own coordinates for the position.